DHAKA : A minor girl was burned to death and 515 shanties were gutted in a fire that broke out in a slum at Katasur in the city’s Mohammadpur area on Sunday morning, reports UNB.
Fatema, a three and a half-year-old daughter of Joynal, was burned alive in a shanty as she was asleep when the fire broke out.
Azizul Haque, officer-in-charge of Mohammadpur Police Station, said the fire broke out at a shanty of Battala Pulpar Basti (slum) in the area around 8:28 am and it soon engulfed the entire slum.
Asma, mother of Fatema, said she went out of their home to drop her elder daughter at her school leaving Fatema asleep in her house.
Being informed, 11 firefighting units rushed in and brought the blaze under control after two hours. They recovered the charred body of the minor girl from the shanty.
Matiur Rahman, owner of a three-storey thatched house in the slum, said the fire originated from an earthen oven of a shanty on the ground floor and soon raged through the three-storey house, burning down the 72 shanties. Meanwhile, Sheikh Mohammad Hossain Khokon, general secretary of West Jafrabad Pulpar House Owners’ Association, said the fire that broke in the slum and gutted 515 shanties.
Local MP Jahangir Kabir Nanak visited the spot. He also assured them of providing necessary support from the government. He said food, blankets and clothes will be given to the victims.